The present invention relates to a device for processing and transporting envelopes, typically in a mail processing system. The device re-orients and redirects the envelopes in preparation for further processing, and achieves an inserter system having a desirable footprint.
Inserter systems such as those applicable for use with the present invention, are typically used by organizations such as banks, insurance companies and utility companies for producing a large volume of specific mailings where the contents of each mail item are directed to a particular addressee. Also, other organizations, such as direct mailers, use inserters for producing a large volume of generic mailings where the contents of each mail item are substantially identical for each addressee. Examples of such inserter systems are the 8 series and 9 series inserter systems available from Pitney Bowes Inc. of Stamford Conn.
In many respects, the typical inserter system resembles a manufacturing assembly line. Sheets and other raw materials (other sheets, enclosures, and envelopes) enter the inserter system as inputs. A plurality of different modules in the inserter system work cooperatively to process the sheets to produce a finished mail piece. The exact configuration of each inserter system depends upon the needs of each particular customer or installation.
Typically, inserter systems prepare mail pieces by gathering collations of documents on a conveyor. The collations are then transported on the conveyor to an insertion station where they are automatically stuffed into envelopes. After being stuffed with the collations, the envelopes are removed from the insertion station for further processing. Such further processing may include automated closing and sealing the envelope flap, weighing the envelope, applying postage to the envelope, and finally sorting and stacking the envelopes.
In designing a mail processing system, as described above, it is important to take into consideration various space and ergonomic considerations. A first consideration is the size of a room for housing the inserting system. While an inserting system that has a straight processing path might often be efficient, the number and size of the processing modules might be such that the customer does not have enough room in their facility to accommodate the length in a single dimension. Accordingly, it is known in the art that it may be necessary to provide a turning module, typically at a right angle, to shorten the system""s length in any one dimension. The choice or the nature and location of the turning module may be difficult, because turning may introduce additional complexity and error into the system. It is also preferable that a turning module be made to do something useful during the turning process, and that floor space and machinery not be used solely for changing the direction of the processing path.
Another consideration in assembling a mail processing system is ergonomics. Even if a customer has room for a straight system, the distance between the beginning and the end of the system might be so great as to make it difficult for an operator to effectively attend to the whole machine. Accordingly, right angle turn modules have been found to be advantageous to create xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d shaped or xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d shaped arrangements to create a work area in which operators have easier access to all of the modules.
Another ergonomic consideration is the height of various components and transports in the system. In the modules where inserts are being fed into collations of documents, operators must have access to feeders in order to refill them and to correct jams. As such, the feeders are typically placed at a level for attendants"" hands to have easy access. As a result, the transport and collations of documents are somewhat below. At an output sorting station, stacks of finished mail pieces are sorted into bins according to zip codes and postal regulations. The sorting bins are periodically hand unloaded by operators. Thus, the bins are typically placed at hand working level. As such, collations and envelopes that are processed upstream, below hand level, must elevated before the sorting stage and sorting bins.
Current mail processing machines are often required to process up to 18,000 pieces of mail an hour, and envelopes travel at speeds as high as 100 inches per second as they are being processed. The steps of moistening and sealing the envelope flaps in particular may result in problems at those speeds. Envelopes may be moving so fast that glue on a moistened envelope flap may not have time form a seal before it is subjected to further processing. Such further processing may cause the envelope flap to reopen partially or fully before the proper sealing can occur. In addition to making the envelope unsuitable for mailing, re-opened flaps can cause jamming of the system.
At such high speeds it is also important to maintain envelopes in their appropriate orientations so that they may be properly handled when they arrive at their respective processing stations. Similarly, it is important to maintain an appropriate gap between subsequent envelopes so that they do not catch up to one another and cause jams. At higher speeds, the mail processing systems become much less tolerant of orientation and spacing errors that can result in jamming and damage to mail pieces.
The present invention provides an apparatus for changing the orientation, height and direction of envelopes conveyed in an inserter system. In the preferred embodiment, the present invention is used just before an output sorting module of an inserter system. Using this preferred embodiment, the sorting bins of the sorting module can be positioned ninety degrees from the collating and inserting part of the inserting system. This arrangement provides the benefits of a smaller footprint in the longest direction, and the sorting bins are closer to other portions of the main body of the inserter system for operator convenience.
The method and operation of the apparatus in accordance with the present invention starts with the envelopes being transported horizontally in a first direction. Next, the envelopes are reoriented from the horizontal position to a vertical position as they are transported in the first direction. Typically, such reorientation is provided by a twisted belt transport arrangement.
Once the envelopes are placed in the vertical orientation, they are redirected in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. In the preferred embodiment of the apparatus, this redirecting is achieved by a transport path formed by a vertical belt urged against an outer radius of a relatively large diameter wheel. Transported envelopes are gripped between the belt and the outer radius of the wheel as it is transported through the preferred ninety degree turn. To help guide this turn, the apparatus preferably includes a turn guide comprised of a stationary curved surface extending upward on the interior portion of the turn radius. The turn guide serves to support and guide the envelope as it passes through the turn. The turning guide may also preferably serve to house and support sensors for detecting the position of envelopes as they pass through the turn. Such sensors could not otherwise be housed or supported by the moving wheels or belts that comprise the turning arrangement. In the preferred embodiment, the sensors are supported from above the turning guide, one positioned within the turning guide and the other on the opposite side of the transport path.
After envelopes have passed through the turning arrangement, in the preferred embodiment, the envelopes are raised several inches by transporting them along a ramped vertical transport. Once the envelopes are raised to their desired elevation, they are then redirected by 180 degrees in preparation for being sorted into the sorting bins. This 180 degree redirection is such that the envelopes are being transported back towards the main body of the inserter system as they are being sorted. This configuration may also allow the module housing the turning arrangement to support an outsort bin at the very end of the sorting module. The outsort bin receives outsorted mail pieces rejected, or bypassed from the sorting bins for any of a variety of reasons.
Using the preferred arrangement according to the present invention, operators can have access to the output sorting module while it is perpendicular and proximal to the other stations in inserter system. Also, in this preferred embodiment the output bins have been raised to a level that is more ergonomically appropriate for the operator access.
In a further preferred embodiment, the process of raising the envelopes on a ramp further comprises providing transitions between ramped and flat portions of a transport to allow the envelopes to pivot and to remain substantially in square alignment with a surface of the transport while traveling up the ramp and after leaving the ramp. Such transitions are preferably provided by sets of nips whereby at least one of the nips in each of the transitioning modules is an idler roller having a toroidal outer surface biased against another driven roller. The toroidal idler roller can serve to provide the grip to drive the envelopes, but also allows a pivoting motion so that the envelope maintains its registration while traveling up the ramp.
Another preferred embodiment of the present invention provides that the turning module, having the twisted belt and redirecting mechanism, can be adjusted to receive and transport different size envelopes to be used in the inserter system.
In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the step of elevating the envelope may take place before it is turned from a horizontal to a vertical orientation. In this arrangement the horizontal envelope can be raised using a conventional horizontal ramp transport, and then the turning arrangement can be utilized to achieve the ninety degree turn to achieve the desired spacing and ergonomic results.